Customer Reviews

Essential Cell Biology

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was desperately looking for a textbook to cover the Biochemistry and Cell Biology for the GRE Subject Test i am preparing for.

Everyone was praising Alberts' Cell Biology but i found the information a bit advanced.
Cell Biology is a FANTASTIC textbook but it requires prior background on Cell Biology to fully appreciate it and i had none.

Then i found Essential Cell Biology. By the same author, it partners with others in bringing Cell Biology to a wider audience. Reading it is a breeze, it makes you wonder why Cell Biology is considered such a hard topic!
Explanations are straight forward and the movies that come with the DVD are a life saver.

You can easily read and assimilate 10 pages an hour and you don't even know when the time passes.
The only chapters that require more time are "How cells obtain energy from food" and "Electron transport in mitochondria". But this is because of the chemical reactions implied by processes such as citric acid and glycolysis.

Don't get fooled! Essential Cell Biology covers ALL chapters that his big brother Cell Biology includes. It only does it in a simpler and wiser manner.

If you want to get acquainted with Cell Biology this is the book for you!

Pro: This textbook is very user friendly and loaded with diagrams that visually demonstrate the highlights of each chapter.

Con: For an advanced level cell biology class this book does NOT provide detailed information. It is simply an overview of cellular biology.

This is the best undergrad textbook I've ever read. It's a pleasure to read (and Cell Bio is not exactly my favorite course) and all of the sections I was assigned to read explained their topics very well. I don't think I will even sell it back to the bookstore when the semester is over. They also put all of the answers in the back of the book. Some textbooks don't, which I hate. The DVD that comes with the txtbk is OK. It has movie clips that are OK and end of chapter quizzes that are helpful for studying but you can't paste any of the info into a word processer to review later or incorporate into flash cards.

This book is really nice. It is organized well and has panels which visually describe certain concepts. The figures, schematics, and photos are very colorful and presented in a very helpful manner that expounds on the written information. The CD that comes with it is also very helpful.

I've read quite a few biology textbooks so far, and this is the best book I have encountered. The language is clear and straightforward, the text is organized in a simple fashion, there are questions at the end of each chapter that inspires critical thinking about what was just read. Perhaps this is the nerd speaking, but I thought this was a fun book to read, I actually looked forward to opening its pages.
Also, I've noticed that textbooks in the past put pretty pictures on their pages, but their pictures had no reason to be on there. In this book, pictures and diagrams are just as primary as the actual text. If a concept is hard to understand, and with cellular biology there is usually some difficult topics, the diagrams help out. A++!

I bought this book a year ago for my eukaryotic cell structure and function class and I have got to say, this is one of the best textbooks I have ever encountered. The descriptions are clear and concise and the book as a whole is INTERESTING! Which is saying something. I actually enjoyed reading this book.

The following semester I took Biochemistry and found myself referring back to this book before exams instead of my actual biochem book. The pictures are extremely helpful in helping you understand and remember what is really going on and the book itself is pleasant to look at.

I'm taking the MCAT this spring and I'm definitely going to be using this book as a study aid as it has proved itself to be a wonderful resource not only for microbiology but also biochemistry and genetics.

I really liked the book.It was in very good condition except the front cover was curled up, but overall it was ok. It was delivered during the days it was listed. Overall good, thanks!

What can I say? I needed this textbook for a class and it served me well. I especially liked the DVD that came with the book. It showed video clips that helped reinforce essential concepts and had quizzes for each chapter that helped me study for my quizzes in class.

This book arrived really fast and it was in a way better condition than I expected.I would definitely order from this user again.

When they said the textbook would be "like new" I thought it was just a ploy, but it was actually in brand new condition. It hadn't even been opened yet, it was still wrapped. It came with the DVD and no damage at all. This is only about a third of the price I was going to pay for this book at my college's bookstore. I am thoroughly satisfied.